Cleanups To Date

Mark your Calendar for May 9th, 2026 for the Third Annual Pitch In All County Cleanup Day. Working together We Can Make Santa Cruz the Cleanest County in the State.

Opportunities to participate will be updated here on a regular basis.

Upcoming Cleanups

  • Join Surfrider Beach Cleanup at Seabright State Beach! (November 2, 2025 @ 9:00am - 11:00am)
    • Time: Sunday, Nov. 2nd @ 9-11am
    • Registration and More Info: Click Here
  • Join Surfrider Beach Cleanup at Rio Del Mar State Beach! (December 7, 2025 @ 9:00am - 11:00am)
    • Time: Sunday, Dec 7th @ 9-11am
    • Registration and More Info: Click Here
  • Join Coastal Watershed Council!
    • Coastal Watershed Council River Health Day @ San Lorenzo River (November 8 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm)
      Plant and maintain native seedlings along the banks of the San Lorenzo River to increase biodiversity and revitalize the river ecosystem. Generally, we meet on the east riverbank between the Laurel Street bridge and the Branciforte Creek pedestrian bridge. Sometimes we meet near Mike Fox Skate Park. Free parking is available in the CWC parking lot at 107 Dakota Ave. Paid parking is also available on Dakota Avenue or across the river in downtown Santa Cruz. The closest parking garage is at 601 Front Street. RSVP to receive up-to-date location information.

Cleanups Accomplished

Eastlake Cleanup

March 1, 2022

For more than a year, directly across from Lakeview Middle School, under the shade trees near the Valley Church properties, a known drug offender had set up an encampment. Several individuals living illegally in this location, accumulated mountains of trash, pallets, crates, discarded furniture, tarps, and human waste which flowed into the irrigation channels that lead to local farms. Many neighbors sent complaints requesting removal of the site and cleanup of the refuse.

Finally, on March 1, 2022, volunteer students from St. Francis School, the Community Action Board, the County of Santa Cruz Public Works, and several local residents cleared out the debris, regraded the landscape, seeded grass and limbed up trees to prevent encampment reestablishment.

 
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St. Francis High School students volunteer to clean up garbage from Eastlake encampment.
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Neighbors and local residents fed up with the environmental destruction caused by the encampment assisted in the cleanup.
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Proud of their accomplishment and valuable contribution to cleaning up the environment, St. Francis students stand before a container of accumulated trash.
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